The disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method of manufacturing a rotary electric machine.
In a process of manufacturing, for example, a stator of a rotary electric machine such as an electric motor and a generator, a varnish-infiltrating process exists by which a varnish is applied to wire-wound coils. The applied varnish is then cured in order to reinforce an insulation of the wire-wound coils that are inserted into slots of the stator, and to enhance anti-vibration characteristics, oil resistance, chemical resistance, and a heat-radiating performance of the wire-wound coils.
In the varnish-infiltrating process, aside from a varnish-dropping process, there are processes for pre-drying, gelating, and curing as processes accompanying a heating process for a pre-processing and for an after-processing. The processes of pre-drying, gelating and curing are illustrated in a processing flowchart in FIG. 17. In the varnish-infiltrating process, a varnish dropping-infiltrating treatment is performed to prevent the varnish from being attached to the inside and the outside of a core. During the dropping-infiltrating treatment, varnish drops onto only coil ends and portions that stand up from slots while a workpiece rotates. Among the processes accompanying the heating process, a pre-drying process removes moisture and modifies a degree of coil stress and a curing process prevents the varnish from weeping by curing or hardening the varnish while the workpiece rotates.
In the processes accompanying the heating process, there exists a method according to which an oven (FIG. 18) or a hot blast-circulating furnace (FIG. 19) is employed. In the heating method involving an oven, as illustrated in FIG. 18, a workpiece (represented by a stator already attached with wire-wound coils) is placed inside the oven and then heated by heated air while the workpiece rotates. Therefore, the heating method is considered a batch type treatment. Further, in the heating method involving a hot blast-circulating furnace, as illustrated in FIG. 19, while the workpiece rotates, the workpiece passes through a tunnel within the furnace while being heated by heated air. The heating method with a hot blast-circulating furnace is different from the heating method with an oven. By utilizing the hot blast-circulating furnace, it is possible to perform continuous processing.